First off, if you want a heart-warming comedy which can get away with brutal to the bone humor but not leave a scar, and shows you the PERSONALITY of Australians, I’d say this movie is the way to go. I’ve gone through many of the films, from the drama like Gallipoli and Walkabout (Powerful) but the charm of this film is WHY I LIKE AUSTRALIA–and it’s core is what I’ve always liked about Australia and planted to seed of desire to go there. We go for THE FEEL.

I was a tennis instructor at a camp in Preston Park PA, and the tennis pro was an Australian ELywn McCabe, and he had a charm and openness that was refreshing, uncritical and supportive. That “Fair go” mentality which means, I’ll give you a shot to be the person you want to be! Well, the warmth and unassuming kindness of the characters shows a humanity and concern that cuts across class lines and shows the pulse reading that connects us all to the heart of others and enlarges our own with humbleness born through the dependence of others.

More and more as I thought of The Castle, it grew in me. I even bought the film, I wanted to own it and have it near me. And I thought, yes, there’s Uluru, Kakadu, the reef, but there’s that character of the people I’ve always felt drawn to, and it’s like a billabong for my soul to drink at, and I believe it will refresh me, and give me another angle on life.

Why? When I had cancer the first time, I decided to change my life. And I did. I quit my journalism job, went to California, surfed, did stand-up and wrote books, did radio, and although I was tumbled down by getting fired, and hit the skids and was broke and then got cancer, I believe the life I decided to pursue my dreams was the life that saved me along with all the people I met along the way. And the second time I had cancer I decided to give back.But when I first had cancer I wanted to go to Australia, and the time never worked. But now, I have some extra money, and the time, and above all, I have a chance for six weeks to do what one rarely gets a chance to do–have an adult summer with the spirit and opportunities of the first summer we experience when there’s no school and a full shining summer day ahead!

And so I reach out for fun and a refreshing rearrangement into Australia, going from the two lands of cancer, to the heart, and that is my dreamtime, and songline, and there’s not longitude or altitude associated with its movement, and I look forward to the wow of it all! I don’t have any testicles because of cancer, but I can play pocket pool with The Devil’s Marbles!

And that’s why I like The Castle. And my smile stretched out for an embrace and a laugh to the untampered joy of it all.

So when I ideally return return, it will be a third act. I’ve been lucky to have two due to cancer, and this is the thirds act the other two have prepared me for. I look forward to that Aussie marinated man, returning to shape a new world through performing and writing, hoping there will be a break from the experience and commitment, always the hope, alway, always, always.